Hepaticas
In the frail hepaticas,--That the early Springtide tossed,Sapphire-like, along the waysOf the woodlands that she crossed,--I behold, with other eyes,Footprints of a dream that flies.
One who leads me; whom I seek:In whose loveliness there isAll the glamour that the GreekKnew as wind-borne Artemis.--I am mortal. Woe is me!Her sweet immortality!
Spirit, must I always fare,Following thy averted looks?Now thy white arm, now thy hair,Glimpsed among the trees and brooks?Thou who hauntest, whispering,All the slopes and vales of Spring.
Cease to lure! or grant to meAll thy beauty! though it pain,Slay with splendor utterly!Flash revealment on my brain!And one moment let me seeAll thy immortality!
Words in this poem
- springtide n.
- The time of spring; springtime. Thomson.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- glamour n.
- A charm affecting the eye, making objects appear different from what they really are. [Scot. glamour, glamer; cf. Icel. glámeggdr one who is troubled with the glaucoma; or Icel. glam-s weakness of sight, glamour; glamr name of the moon, also of a ]
- averted a.
- Turned away, esp. as an expression of feeling; also, offended; unpropitious.
- revealment n.
- Act of revealing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hepaticas is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, Hepaticas, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/hepaticas.html, id L10868.
Form and metre
Hepaticas is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABB hepaticas · tossedA · ways · crossedA · eyesB · fliesB
- 2 A-A--- seekA · is · greekA · artemis · me · immortality
- 3 ABABCC fareA · looksB · hairA · brooksB · whisperingC · springC
- 4 AB-BA- meA · painB · utterly · brainB · seeA · immortality
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the frail hepaticas,-- | 7 | ······· |
| That the early Springtide tossed, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·˘ |
| Sapphire-like, along the ways | 8 | /˘˘·˘/·· |
| Of the woodlands that she crossed,-- | 8 | ··/····˘ |
| I behold, with other eyes, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Footprints of a dream that flies. | 7 | /······ |
| One who leads me; whom I seek: | 7 | ······· |
| In whose loveliness there is | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| All the glamour that the Greek | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Knew as wind-borne Artemis.-- | 7 | ······· |
| I am mortal. Woe is me! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Her sweet immortality! | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Spirit, must I always fare, | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| Following thy averted looks? | 8 | /˘˘·˘/˘· |
| Now thy white arm, now thy hair, | 7 | ······· |
| Glimpsed among the trees and brooks? | 8 | ·˘······ |
| Thou who hauntest, whispering, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| All the slopes and vales of Spring. | 7 | ······· |
| Cease to lure! or grant to me | 7 | ······· |
| All thy beauty! though it pain, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Slay with splendor utterly! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Flash revealment on my brain! | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| And one moment let me see | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All thy immortality! | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.